Pages

Every second Saturday of the month, 4 pm - Divine Liturgy in English of Sunday - Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family, Duke Street, London W1K 5BQ. Followed by refreshments.Next Liturgy: Saturday 14th April - 3pm Great Vespers, 4pm Divine Liturgy for Sunday after Pascha (Pascha is on 8th April)

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

The United States deplores continued threats against Christians and other
minorities in Syria, who are increasingly targeted by extremists. Last week in
Raqqa, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) announced it will force
Syrian Christians to either convert to Islam, remain Christian and pay a tax, or
face death. These outrageous conditions violate universal human rights. ISIL has
demonstrated time and again its disregard for Syrian lives, and it continues to
commit atrocities against the Syrian people. Although ISIL claims it is fighting
the regime, its oppression of and senseless violence against Syrians, including
the moderate Syrian opposition, demonstrates that it is fighting for nothing
except the imposition of its own brand of tyranny.

While the Assad regime attempts to paint itself as a protector of Syria’s
minorities, it has brutally cracked down on dissent from all segments of
society. The regime has arrested Christian worshippers, human rights advocates,
and peaceful dissidents like Akram al Bunni and President of the Assyrian
Democratic Organization, Gabriel Moushe Gourieh; raided and confiscated church
property; shelled Christian communities like Yabrud; and bombed dozens of
churches, some simply for being located in opposition-held areas.

The Syrian people have a long history of tolerance and co-existence, but both
the regime and ISIL are fueling sectarian strife to justify their brutality. We
strongly condemn these abuses and urge all parties to protect and respect the
rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or religion.

Pray for the Unity of the Apostolic Churches

The Society of St John Chrysostom promotes greater appreciation of the spiritual, theological and liturgical traditions of Eastern Christendom, works and prays for the unity of the Churches of East and West, and encourages support for the Eastern Churches :

- the Byzantine and Oriental Catholic Churches in communion with the Apostolic See of Rome (especially in their contemporary calling to promote reconciliation and the recovery of union between Catholics and Orthodox)- the Orthodox Church- the Oriental Orthodox Churches and- the Church of the East.

In the United Kingdom and Europe the Society, founded in 1926, is a group of Catholics of the Latin and Eastern Churches, along with our friends in other traditions, promoting awareness and friendship in the Christian West for our fellow Christians of the East - through prayer and liturgy, conferences and lectures, pilgrimage and ecumenical encounters.